Tag Archives: quiet

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Quiet Forest

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Quiet Forest
A quiet and unremarkable forest scene in a peaceful corner of Yosemite Valley

Quiet Forest. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A quiet and unremarkable forest scene in a peaceful corner of Yosemite Valley

There are a few things about photography that we don’t often talk about too much. One of them is the fact that some days simply don’t bring remarkable light and conditions. Exceptional conditions are… exceptional. You increase your chances of photographing them if you are out there a lot, but this means that you also increase the chances that you’ll have some days when things seem a bit… dull. This was one of those days. Actually, it had been better earlier in the day and it promised to be good later on, but at the time of day when I made this photograph the light was somewhat “blah.”

So I strapped on my pack, grabbed my tripod, and went for a slow, lazy hike in an area that didn’t feature any particularly distinguishing iconic subjects. It was actually a wonderful walk. Having given up on the idea of finding brilliant light, the pressure was off, and I was free to wander slowly, looking around and going wherever it seemed interesting. At one point I crossed a bridge and decided to follow a little trail into forest along the shores of a river. A ways up that trail I though that rocks and trees off to one side looked interesting, so I left the trail and wandered off that direction, finally stopping to photograph some interesting tree bark patterns. Once I was set up it made sense to look around a bit, and I soon spotted this little scene with a path, some trees, and a large boulder.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Two Owls, Trees and Ponds, Dusk

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Two Owls, Trees and Ponds, Dusk - Two owls in the branches of a group of trees at dusk, reflected in the waters of a pond at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge
Two owls in the branches of a group of trees at dusk, reflected in the waters of a pond at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge

Two Owls, Trees and Ponds, Dusk. Merced National Wildlife Refuge, California. February 4, 2012. © Copyright 2012 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two owls in the branches of a group of trees at dusk, reflected in the waters of a pond at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge.

I originally posted this in an impromptu manner and out of sequence back on SuperB owl Sunday – but now it comes up “officially” in the queue. At the very end of a winter day that had begun well before dawn back up the Central Valley closer to Sacramento (in the Cosumnes River area, to be precise) we had headed south to Merced National Wildlife Refuge in search of somewhat different subject for the evening. We arrived to find some geese on the pond, but most were a bit too far off for good photography. But while we settled in to wait for whatever else might show up, I turned my attention to the beautiful and wide-open Central Valley landscape.

This little group of trees grows on a small levee between a couple of ponds in this agricultural area. (Over the past few weeks I have come to know this exact spot very well, as I have been back three times now to photograph there, with better and better luck each time.) After the sun set, some of the most beautiful light appeared – the soft and pink/purple/blue atmospheric light of dusk, when there is still some brighter color in the sky. I saw a single bird high in one of the branches of this tree and soon figured out it was an owl. I set up a composition that centered the tree – creating, I hope, a sense of quiet and stillness – and which included a bit of the sky and the beautiful reflection of the tree’s silhouette in the water. As I shot, a second owl showed up for a few seconds and I was able to get a frame with the couple together.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Pond with Boulders and Trees

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Pond with Boulders and Trees
Pond with Boulders and Trees

Pond with Boulders and Trees. Yosemite National Park, California. July 28, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A small pond reflects trees and glaciated boulders, Yosemite National Park.

This is a little location that I’ve returned to since I first discovered it a few years ago when I made a random stop along Tioga Pass Road to photograph some fog, looked away from the road, and saw a faint trail leading off into a little valley that looked to be full of rocks. Later I returned and wandered out on the trail and discovered a surprising landscape with glaciated granite, small pools, open forest, and small meadows. The first time I photographed there I had little time, so it ended up being more of a scouting visit than a shoot. However, this summer I planned to reserve part of a morning to wander back up this trail during the time when the light would still be good.

The pools here are almost completely still. The water is flowing, but not much, especially in the small granite rimmed pools like this one. The light was just barely beginning to filter down through the trees, so I had to be a bit careful to avoid hot spots where the sun shone. I’d share where this spot is, except that if you think about what you are passing as you drive along Tioga Pass Road, and occasionally stop and look around, you can probably find your own little spots like this one.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Sierra Nevada, Photographs: Yosemite

Morning Reflections, Unnamed Lake

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Morning Reflections, Unnamed Lake
Morning Reflections, Unnamed Lake

Morning Reflections, Unnamed Lake. Yosemite National Park, California. July 29, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The still early morning surface of an unnamed subalpine lake reflects the boulders and trees along its rocky shoreline, Yosemite National Park.

This is yet another of those little places in Yosemite that is both surprisingly accessible and surprisingly neglected. Since keeping it that way may be a good thing, I’ll refrain from locating it more specifically than to say that it is along the Tioga Pass Road through the park.

I have photographed here before, and I am intrigued by the good-sized granite boulders along the shoreline and out into the water of this shallow lake surrounded by forest. Because of the surrounding terrain, morning light does not reach down to th lake right away, so I was able to shoot in this soft and indirect light and include both some details in the shadows of the forest and their beautifully blurred reflections in the still surface of the water.

The photograph includes one indication of what an unusual year this has been in the high country. The horizontal white area beyond the shoreline trees at the left side of the frame is a melting snow bank. Normally that might not be a big deal, but this photograph was made near the very end of July. It is a very unusual year when we can still find snow at this elevation near the beginning of August!

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

(Basic EXIF data may be available by “mousing over” large images in posts. Leave a comment if you want to know more.)